"Huh, so that's how they work." Crue muttered to himself, having taken apart a longneck lighter and laid the mechanism out. The Faunus was currently outside a small café, a mug of tea on his table and a bag of items to his side.
"Well they don't have gas that's for sure." Crue looked at the container that held the fuel for the lighter. It contained bright red Dust, which he knew from the classes he had to take was Fire Dust. There was also a smaller container adjoined to it, which from what Crue could tell held pressurised air.
"So the trigger opens the valve, and the air blows the Fire Dust up because it can't move on its own." He summarised. He grabbed a glove from his bag, and a roll of the closest thing to duct tape he could find.
"Now, do I want it to shoot from my palm or the back of my hand." As he was mulling it over, thinking about the different ways it could go wrong, he heard someone call out his name.
"Crue! Hey!" The Faunus turned his head, seeing JNPR walking towards him, Nora waving her hand wildly.
"Hey guys!" Crue smiled, turning his body to face them. "What're you doing here?"
"We're just here to hang for a bit." Jaune answered. "Pyrrha had been wanting to go to this place for a while." He nudged the redhead, causing her to blush and look away from her leader. "Did you get back from your mission?"
Crue nodded. "Yeah, just today." He grabbed the small menu on the table and handed it to Jaune as the team sat down. "It was pretty good. Cardin's less of a dick now."
"Ooh! What'cha making?" Nora sat down next to Crue, pushing up against the Faunus with interest, staring at the glove and deconstructed lighter. The others all sat down, staring at the Faunus' work curiously.
Crue opened his mouth to answer, but stopped. "Oh! This is great actually." He smiled, before coughing into his fist. "Ok, question for you all." He held up his hand.
"Do you think it'd be cooler to shoot fire from your palm?" He tapped his open hand, before forming a fist. "Or from the back of your wrist?"
"Palm." "Wrist." The group turned to look at Ren, the only one to answer 'wrist'. "Well, perhaps not cooler. But safer."
"No safety, we die like men." Crue retorted, much to Nora's amusement, the Valkyrie cheering as he got back to work. He strapped the container to the back of the glove as the others ordered their drinks.
JNPR began filling Crue in on the things he missed while he was away, such as Ruby making cookies, Weiss freezing the swimming pool-"We have a swimming pool?"-and an Ice Sculpture contest, for some reason.
"I fractured my leg for like, a day." Jaune continued, causing Crue to raise an eyebrow and look under the table. "Yeah it's better now. High Aura and all that."
"I'm sure." Crue replied in monotone, sitting at the table properly again. "How'd you fracture it?" He asked, finishing up with his glove, putting it on and checking how it fit.
"I tripped over one of Blake's candlesticks." The blonde shrugged. "It's ok though, I saw Ruby hit her in the face with a book." The statement caused Crue to spit out some of his tea, leaving a fine mist slowly escaping into the air.
"Did you record it?" Crue asked with utmost seriousness.
"No." Jaune replied sadly. "It was so sudden I could only appreciate it." Crue groaned, putting a hand on his chin and drumming his fingers against his cheek.
"Damn. I didn't see anything funny like that." He thought back to his trip. "Though I did get to ride on a giant robot." Nora and Jaune instantly gained interest, and even Ren raised a very inquisitive eyebrow.
"And I'm sure you had the perfect music to go with it." Pyrrha said in a teasing tone. Crue laughed, and took out his Scroll, planning to play the very song.
"As a matter of fact-" He stopped dead, staring at his Scroll. The others watched in curiosity and caution. There was a reflection in his Scroll, of the roof of the nearest building. And what was reflected terrified him.
He had to be sure. Crue did not go into the music app, instead activating his camera. Once he had confirmed what he had seen, he whirled around in his seat, staring up at the roof. JNPR followed his gaze, and instantly all of them were on their feet.
Atop the building was a figure with a black and red dress, a massive sheath with various colours hanging off their hip. A set of necklaces hung above a very definitive part of the body that alerted them this figure was female.
The most notable feature of the figure was the fearsome, full-face Grimm mask that completely hid their face. She put a hand on the hilt of her sword, clearly preparing to attack. "Get your wea-" Was all Crue was able to get out, before he lifted his arm and has thrown backwards.
Crue went flying into the street, causing several cars to screech to a halt and honk loudly. The noise of the horns was murder on the Faunus' ears, causing him to scream out. "SHUT IT! RUN AWAY!" There was a sound of something crashing, and Crue saw the table they were sitting at cut in half, and the members of JNPR flying backwards.
Crue ran forward instantly, helping Pyrrha to her feet, the closest to him. "Pyrrha! Are you ok?" The other members all stood to their feet, the figure before them swinging her sword confidently. "Call your-"
"We have. You should call yours." Pyrrha stood in front of Crue, protecting him from the intruder. "But please stay out of this." Crue looked aghast at the idea of not fighting alongside them. "I don't mean any offense. But your training hasn't had much to test against."
The other members of JNPR all stood next to Pyrrha, and in front of him. They were all protecting him, he realised. Defending him. Because he couldn't defend himself. Crue took a step back, hating that they were right. "Neo was scared of her. And I couldn't beat her."
But he knew there was no way they could defeat her. And absolutely no way he could beat her. Their weapons would come. They would live. But he had to leave. He had to run-"No." What? "I'm not running!"
The figure brought her sword back over her head, as Crue dashed forward under Pyrrha's arms, and raised his own. There was a scream of "NO!" from some member of JNPR, Crue's heart was beating too fast to figure out who.
The bright red sword swung down against Crue's arm. A deafening 'CLAANG' echoed out, causing the eyes behind the mask to widen. "Bad move, Raven." Crue whispered, just low enough for only her to hear.
The realisation that Crue knew her name caused surprise and hesitation, and that hesitation cost her. There was a hissing noise by her stomach, and Raven looked down to see a glove spraying red Dust at her. Crue tensed as he pushed down on the igniter.
A massive explosion erupted once the electricity came into contact with the Dust. Both parties were thrown back several dozen feet, the difference being that Crue had Pyrrha and Nora catch him before he could go further.
"Ok. That was not a flamethrower." The Faunus groaned out, his ears ringing from the blast. "More of an Explosion-Thrower." He stared at his gloved hand, thinking of a name for it instantly. "Borradh."
"That was awesome! But we still have trouble." Jaune complimented, before turning to face the problem on two legs. Raven stood up from the rubble, and through her mask Crue could see piercing red eyes staring at him.
"She has to be White Fang." Jaune theorised, Crue deciding to remain quiet, figuring that it'd be easier if they didn't know Yangs complicated family life. "We've no idea what her intentions are. So it's just a case of keep her here until reinforcements arrive."
"You're our fearless leader for a reason." Ren said in complete monotone, taking a stance that truly showed his ninja features. Pyrrha stood next to Jaune, and Crue saw a black glow around her hands. Nora picked up a piece of the broken table, holding it like a hammer.
Crue was still in the back, but he had his glove ready, despite the obvious fact that he should run, he stayed to fight. Raven sheathed her sword, and dashed forward, directly for Crue. The Faunus jumped back immediately, throwing out his gloved hand and showering the area in front of him with Dust.
Raven skid to a halt, and had to dodge a wooden table trying to slam down on her, and moved out of the way of a jab that would have probably knocked her out. She brought out her sword and made to swing at Jaune, who was holding another table as a shield.
Her sword stopped mid-swing, and missed completely, allowing Jaune to bash the table against her mask. It barely phased her, instead grabbing the table and pushing it back, causing it to crash into Jaune, who in turn bumped against Pyrrha, causing her to lose focus with her Semblance.
Raven rushed forward, raising her sword high against Crue. The Faunus raised his arm once more, but there was no blow. Raven struck her sword into the ground, and used her momentum to swing her whole body into a kick that sent Crue crashing back into the café, thankfully devoid of civilians.
Crue managed to stand, grabbing onto one of the tables that was still left, the customers drinks still on it, seeing as they ran as soon as the fight started. He looked up to the fight, seeing Raven practically bat away team JNPR, before turning and staring right at him.
"I-I can't beat her. They can't beat her and they're actually being trained to be Hunters." Crue backed up slightly, as Raven slowly stalked towards him. "I can't fight like a Hunter, I've got barely any-" Crue halted his train of thought.
"Oh. Duh." He realised something in that moment and time, which was lucky, as he had barely a moment left before Raven raised her sword. "So." Crue spoke calmly, which ever-so-slightly unnerved Raven.
"When Yang came out, was she a baby, or an egg?" Raven's eyes grew impossibly wide behind her mask, which only made Crue's next attack all the more effective. He grabbed one of the still hot drinks on the table behind him, and threw its contents across Raven's mask.
There was an instant cry of pain, and Crue used that moment to run, drawing Raven's ire and fire away from JNPR. "I can't fight her like a Huntsman." Crue thought, as he slid into an alley, hearing Raven chasing after him.
"So I'll fight her like an Irishman." Activating his Semblance, Crue ran up the wall of the alley, and kicked out at an air conditioner, causing it to tumble and fall below him. It was cut in two, but it still gave Crue enough time to get onto the roof of one of the buildings.
He almost slipped on the gravelled roof, but managed to run straight enough to not fall over. As he was running, he heard the crunch of gravel, and spun on his heel, dragging his foot on the ground.
He turned to face Raven fully, while kicking up an amount of gravel at her and into her eyes. She covered the eyeholes on her mask with her arm, momentarily blocking her view. Crue ran forward, bringing his fist back, and throwing it into Raven's stomach.
The Faunus heard a cough as Raven bent forward, her mask whacking off Crue's head. The Faunus staggered back, and found himself tripping due to something pulling his leg. He fell to the ground, and instantly felt a knee on his chest and a blade on his neck.
"Who are you?" It was the first words she had spoken in this entire battle. Crue stared up at the red eyes, which looked even redder due to his own actions.
"Wouldn't you like to know." Crue responded, and felt the blade move closer. "Yeah probably shouldn't with her." He did not gulp in fear, instead choosing to stare Raven down.
"I would. I would also like to know how you know so much about me." Raven questioned, leaving a millimetre of room to disagree, that millimetre being the amount of space between Raven's sword and Crue's neck.
"You wouldn't believe me if I tol-." Crue responded. "Actually no fuck that cliché." He cut himself off, mildly surprising Raven. "I would tell you but you'd probably kill me because you'd think I've gone mad."
"I'm probably going to kill you anyway." Raven countered.
"Fair point." Crue accepted. "But you'll forgive me for not being so eager to talk with someone who abandoned their kid-" Raven pressed the blade a little closer "-and I really need to learn when to shut the fuck up."
"Yes. You do." Raven growled out. "And my relationship with my daughter is none of your concern. Nothing I do is any of your concern. You don't know what I've been it's like to be an outcast forced to-" "Outcast?" Crue cut Raven off, and for the briefest moment of time, the masked woman felt fear as eyes like steel bored into her own.
"Outcast?" Crue pushed against the ground, his Aura working overtime to prevent the blade from cutting his neck. "Outcast?!" He stood to his full height, only an inch taller than Raven but it was enough that head able to look down on her.
"OUTCAST?!" He exclaimed, grabbing the blade of the sword and bringing it down across his knee, completely shattering it. "What do you know about being an outcast?!" He stepped forward, forcing Raven to take a step back.
"I was an outcast growing up! I was an outcast in school! I was an outcast in the orphanage! I was always out of place! I still am! I was an outcast in my world! And this isn't even my world!" Crue hissed every last syllable directly to Raven, while staring deep into her crimson eyes, forcing her to meet the steely blue eyes of a Wolf.
It was only as he was panting, that he realised what he had said aloud. Crue slapped his hand against his mouth, his eyes going wide as he lost any power over Raven. Even with this loss of power, she made no move against him.
"Not your worl- What does that mean!?" It was Raven's turn to step forward aggressively, but Crue shook his head, eyes wide and full of a terrifying realisation. The Faunus turned and ran, not knowing what else to do.
"Where the hell are JNPR?!" He screamed within his mind as he ran. His answer came with four loud crashes, signalling that the lockers had finally arrived. Crue felt himself thrown to the ground at the same time, a grip strong as iron holding the back of his neck.
"You are going to tell me everything you know!" Raven breathed down his throat, a new blade piercing the ground near Crue's head.
Crue still had one hand closed against his mouth while on the ground, and shook his head violently. Before Raven could utter another threat, a bullet impacted her shoulder, causing her to hiss in pain. She turned to see Pyrrha aiming at her, and the other members of her team slowly climbing onto the roof.
"I'll be back here at midnight." Raven spoke quickly, heaving Crue up and holding him in front of her, using him as a shield. "If you aren't there, I will kill them." Crue's hand dropped as he stared at JNPR advancing towards Raven.
He couldn't let them die. He couldn't let anyone die. He can't. He won't. He can't- Any further thought the Faunus had was banished as he was hurled forward, being caught by Jaune as Raven jumped backwards into an alley, slashing at the ground as she fell.
Ren, Nora and Pyrrha were instantly at the drop, but when they got there, she was nowhere to be found. "You ok, Crue?" Jaune asked quietly, holding the Faunus steady.
"Yeah. Course." Crue answered, as though nothing was wrong. "Just another White Fang, right? She just caught me wrong is all." He played off any emotions he may currently be harbouring, acting like he always did, like everything's alright.
"Come on, let's go get- Pyrrha?" Crue cut himself off, staring at the Invincible Girl, who was currently shaking like a leaf. "Are you ok?" The rest of her team instantly converged on her, making sure she wasn't hurt.
"I-I'm not ok." She shook her head, and looked up to meet Crue's eyes, emerald and blue steel meeting in a moment of understanding that worried Crue greatly.
"I'm afraid."
…
Wow such a quick update I can't believe that I actually managed this. I know it's a short chapter but everything I wanted to happen in this chapter happened. Though I feel like I could have worded the 'Outcast' part a bit better.
So yes there is a lot to say here, but I'll leave that up to you to talk about. Ngl my computer crashed when writing this and I experienced Fear™. It all worked out though. Anyway, this chapter has quite a bit happening despite how short it is. Oh and shout out to HaterGrimm for calling the flamethrower. Nice job dude.
Regardless of its length, I hope you enjoyed, let me know if you did, and as always
Until Next Time
-Friday